When opportunity came knocking for brothers Richard and Kevin Whynott to join forces in 2009 and work together for their own company, the two answered the call without hesitation.

Kevin, an electrician by trade, had founded his own company, Total Electrical Services, in 2005 and worked on contracts for mining operations both in the Sudbury Basin and beyond. Richard, a heavy equipment mechanic by trade, was in his 14th year with Vale and was a supervisor.During the Vale strike in 2009, there were mining companies closing and selling off equipment and the Whynott brothers saw it as their chance to strike out on their own and start a sister company, Total Equipment Services Inc.

“We had talked about opening an equipment side to what Kevin had already for a few years,” said Richard. “During the strike in 2009, the opportunity arose for us to buy a bunch of equipment different mining companies were selling off. We knew the industry and we knew this equipment would sell. Total Equipment Services was formed in September of 2009 and we had our first sale in October. We’ve been going ever since. It was a good merger. ”

Total Electrical Services provides electrical contracting for a variety of services. It manufactures mine power centres, motor control units and PLC cabinets, and does hoist, switch room and high voltage installation as well as underground distribution. The electrical business is experiencing solid sales and has cut a favourable slice from the mining pie.

“We’re doing a lot of manufacturing of mine power centres and underground electrical gear. We have a lot of good contracts, but they come and go,” said TES owner/electrician Kevin Whynott.

Total Equipment Sales buys and sells rebuilt and refurbished mining gear and equipment, does equipment sourcing and equipment mobilization, builds to suit customer specs and supplies parts and service for underground and surface operations. The mechanical side of the business has also found ways to strike the proverbial gold and help the company grow.

“We repair MacLean bolters, scoops, jumbos … pretty much anything,” Richard said. “We’re also now the authorized dealer for Breaker Technology Inc. We’re doing a lot of MacLean bolters. We seem to have found a niche there.”

The two companies have a total of 65 employees and cover a vast territory from Greater Sudbury and Timmins to Manitoba and beyond.

“It’s getting to be more and more everywhere,” Kevin said. “We’re across Canada. We’ve even had electrical jobs as far away as Chile. It means a lot to us to be doing this. We took a big leap and it has worked out in our favour. We have a lot of good people behind us making it all work.”

Business is good for TES. In the summer, the company expanded, more than doubling the space it occupies to accommodate the demand for is services. Doing the right job the first time and listening to customers has been the key to their success.

“Customer service and support is the biggest thing for us. Our customer’s success is our success,” Richard said. “We’re backing up what we’re doing with good service and support. At the end of the day, when our customers are happy, we’re happy. We can find solutions for unique problems. It leaves us with a good feeling when we can help someone out. Good employees are also key.”

The brothers are moving forward at a slow and steady pace, but they have big dreams for the future.

“We didn’t think we would be expanding this fast. This is our passion. We’re proud of the outcome so far. Down the road, we’d like to offer our own line of mining equipment,” Kevin said.